Freaky Fights! ( for Robin, open to more)

[The Hopeslayer]

There was going to be another tournament held this night, a tournament to see who was the best at fighting some very strange opponents. Those who knew about it called it the Freak Fights as there was hardly ever any normal people in these fights. Meta-humans who couldn't quite hit the big time on the criminal scene on their own, mad scientists with their weird creations, or just the criminally insane tended to flock to this place when they could find it. After all the prize was a million dollars and the chance to join the one who hosted the fights. No one had really seen the host's face as he always distorted his looks and voice, appearing on video monitors instead of in person. Yet the mystery just seemed to bring more combatants to join the tournament.

Those that managed to actually find the place proved they were worthy of fighting just by showing up. It wasn't easy to track the place down and it's location seemed to change every time a tournament was held. Yet word of mouth was a powerful force and the place was packed with those who wanted to see a crazy series of fights. Tonight's fights were being held in what amounted to an underground stadium, though in reality it was an old water treatment facility that hadn't been used in over a decade. The empty holding tanks for the water made for perfect arenas with lots of room to maneuver while some bleachers had been brought in for the audience to have a good view of it all. The cover price was less than a major sporting event and oh so much more entertaining to the bloodthirsty crowd who'd gathered. Thanks to the entrance fee for the viewers and the bigger fee to join in on the fights, the million dollar prize was easily covered. With the cuts gained by all the bets placed on the fights a rather nice profit was also made for the host, yet money really wasn't his top priority. No, tonight he hoped to find at least one new lackey to do some missions for him around the city and this fighting tournament would show him which was best suited to take on the influx of heroes who had been showing up as of late.

The foreman's box looking over the whole makeshift arena had it's windows tinted so no one could see into it, not to mention enough security measures added to the little booth to make it a small fortress. It sat over the audience and overlooked the arena below, a large monitor attached beneath it and another monitor on the opposite side of the arena dangled from the ceiling. How they got such large electronics down here without notice was anyone's guess, but they sure made it easy to keep track of the action once things started. Inside the foreman's box was the host of tonight's events, though no one even knew the man's name... nor did they know he wasn't human. All they knew was that he wasn't someone to be trifled with and that working for him might be the jump start that sent their career from street thug to super villain overnight. That was, if they won the tournament.

[Robin]

This had taken months of careful planning. First he had to develop enough contacts in the underground that he would be able to divulge the location of the secret underground fighting ring. It had taken awhile. People were suspicious and careful to make sure that they weren't giving information that the heroes would be able to trace. They had no idea, of course, that they were actually giving information to a hero but that was how the young leader preferred it. UNlike the last time he went undercover he had made sure to inform his teammates. He wasn't about to make the same mistake he had with Slade twice.

Robin took a deep breath as he moved into position among the other fighters, his gaze sliding up to the Foreman's booth where the mysterious benefactor was hidden. Robin didn't care about the money. He had paid the fees, of course, but he wasn't here for the million. He was here to get closer to their mysterious host. The trials hadn't started yet, but he knew that once they did he wouldn't have time to worry about anything. That was the good thing about combat, he could focus on that instead of trying to figure out whos and whys later.

The alias Dick had given for this fight was the Target. Okay, it's true, he was lacking in creativity. The costume was all black, not half as swanky as his Red X costume, but again, less likely to get filched. He had a completely black face mask, shielding his face from view, and a similar voice warper built into the suit. They would only recognize him if they made him pull off the full face mask and his domino mask and spiked hair sprung out comically.

The rest of the outfit was also black. He had thick shoulder padding, which could have even been armor, that was black. Corrugated arm guards went the length of his arms, the gunmetal so dark it hailed to black like the shoulder armor. The rest of the suit was skintight and black aside from a white and red target in the center of his chest that no one would be able to hit.

Now all he had to do was breathe deeply and wait for his name to be called. Then he would win at any cost.

Ooc:
Funfact. Target is real.

[The Hopeslayer]

A robotic referee came up to the disguised hero, the automaton no wiser as to the true identity behind the mask. It wasn't all that rare for some fighters to hide their identities in these fights after all, and any costumes, gadgets, powers, and weapons were all fair game.

"Target, you are in C block of the fights. We have no record of prior participation on your part in these battles so I shall provide a brief summary for you. These fights are broken into four blocks of ten fighters per block. Each block will fight in a battle royale until only one fighter per block remains. Once the four finalists are selected they will go to the semifinals, which will be paired at random. The winner of these two fights will of course proceed to the final round. Any weapons, powers, armor, or other items you may have are allowed so feel free to go wild." The robot stated in a very monotone voice. Even though it was a programmed speech on it's part it sounded like it did want to help in any way. Of course it sounded that way because it was there to help the fighters with any questions they might have about rules.

"Fighters are disqualified if they are knocked out of the battle zone for a ten count, knocked unconscious, freely forfeit, or are killed during battle. Do you have any questions?" The robot referee waited patiently to see if Target needed anything else before it performed the same speech for several other newcomers to the fight.

~~~

Up in the foreman's box Hopeslayer sat quietly and surveyed the scene. The large arena area below had a smaller circle in the middle made of hard stone. That was the designated battle zone, with the edges between it and the audience counting as out of the ring. There was a sizable crowd gathered already and the fighters were being herded off to their blocks. Things were going to start soon. The benefactor of tonight's events sat and looked over the participants. There were some new entries, more than usual. That was fine though as a lot of perspective lackeys had died during the last time Hopeslayer had held this type of event. The prize money certainly brought in more fodder, and hopefully it would bring in someone worth having around to work for him.

Hopeslayer cast a glance at the odds, seeing who was betting on who. It seemed the fan favorite for A block was 'The Bombardier', some sort of meta-human in an aviator's helmet that could form concussive blasts around his feet and hands to throw a punch with the force of a bomb's explosion as well as propel himself through the air with similar blasts from his feet. A promising subject to be sure.

B block had it's own favorites with heavy betting between two characters. 'Salamander' was some sort of science experiment gone wrong, looking more like an orange lizard than anything else. Apparently the girl could cling to walls and breath fire like some sort of dragon wannabe. Hopeslayer thought that Vrax might cheer for her if he'd known about these fights. The other one to look out for in B block was a hulking brute of a man going by the moniker of 'Metal Head'. He was decked out in a bunch of spare car and truck parts for armor and using a massive sledge hammer as a weapon. Not exactly subtle with his look or weapons, but apparently he was even tougher than he looked and no one was sure whether he had any meta-human powers.

C block had some interesting fighters as well, but the favorite there was a fighter called 'Medieval' who favored a crossbow with trick bolts as well as a hi-tech flail among other weapons. He was certainly a favorite with the betting crowd with the interesting look, but Hopeslayer wasn't too sure if that one would make it to the semi-finals. Of course these matches all tended to have many surprises so anything could happen. The kitsune didn't even bother to look at D block's roster yet as the fight for block A was starting.

~~~

"You all may observe the battles for block A and B from here until you are all called for your own battle. No fighting amongst yourselves until you are all out in the arena or you will be disqualified and then executed." This time it was a heavily armored and armed robotic guard giving instructions instead of the more amiable ref-bot. There were more of the guard bots stationed around the area as well to make sure the rules were obeyed in C block.

A block's combatants were all visible from the waiting area, giving the fighters there a nice view of the carnage. Already five of the fighters in A block had been knocked out or otherwise taken out of the fight. Sure enough the whacky man in the aviator getup was causing a scene in the arena and giving the crowd a good show. The crowd gave a rather huge cheer when he caused one fighter's head to simply vanish in a spray of gore with an explosive punch, showing that those flight goggles on his face could have a practical reason in a fight by keeping the blood out of his eyes.

"Heh, looks like A block will be finishing up soon enough with that guy in there." One of the waiting fighters in C block commented to Target, simply making small talk to pass the time till it was their turn to tear at each other in the arena.

[Robin]

Robin stiffened when the robot approached him, but when it referred to him by his undercover codename the young man relaxed slightly and nodded as he was directed to C block. He listened as the bot droned on, informing him of the way the fights worked. It was nothing he didn't already know from his sources but the young man nodded eagerly and pretended like he was taking in all the information.

When the first bot had moved on it was replaced with a second bot. This one was much larger and more heavily armed. Dick glanced at it, and shuffled into the group of other C block fighters waiting for their match to begin Sizing up the competition was a good idea. The one to watch in A block turned out to be bomb guy in the aviator costume. The young leader winced as he watched a head explode, but then turned to glance at the person besides him when they spoke.

"Yeah," Target agreed quietly, his voice distorted to a lower pitch. "I don't think we'll be waiting long at all." at least, he hoped they wouldn't. Watching the fight was great for tactical reasons but punching someone in the face felt slightly more rewarding.

[The Hopeslayer]

Sure enough the A block's winner turned out to be 'The Bombardier' and he took a bow for the crowd as the last of his enemies in the fight were knocked out. Surprisingly there had only been two fatalities during the first round with the rest of the losers either surrendering or being knocked unconscious. As far as those participating or watching the fights were concerned the ones that died were simply too weak to have been messing around here in the first place.

B block was up next and it turned into a rather grisly affair quite quickly. Sure enough it was 'Salamander' and 'Metal Head' duking it out for the win. All the other fighters in that block were dead within minutes, either burned to a crisp by the lizard girl or splattered under the huge brute's hammer. The duel between the two remaining fighters was a sight to behold. Salamander was much faster than her opponent, spitting fire at him from various angles as she dodged out of the way of that lethal hammer. Metal Head was no slouch though even with half his body engulfed in flames he still attacked relentlessly. Salamander ended up the winner after several more minutes of fighting, Metal Head finally succumbing to his injuries and losing consciousness as most of the metal armor he'd used was now fused with his flesh. Oddly enough it seemed like he was going to live through the horrific wounds, much to everyone's surprise at that announcement.

It was finally C block's turn to battle.

~~~

"Everyone in C block report to the arena. Your battle shall commence in two minutes." Came the voice of the ref-bot. The guard-bots kept watched over the fighters as they filed into the arena. 'Medieval' quickly made his way to the other side of the arena, wanting a bit of space before the fight started. He already had his hi-tech crossbow out and ready, looking like a modern knight with his mix of armor and weapons.

Once everyone from C block was inside the arena the doors closed behind them.

"C block fighters ready? Countdown to battle! Three! Two! One! FIGHT!"